College Basketball Roundup : Alford Buries Slump, Princeton

All-American Steve Alford was in a shooting slump, but Friday night he walked the line.

Alford made 8 of 11 shots from three-point range and scored 26 points to lead eighth-ranked Indiana to an 83-54 victory over Princeton in the Hoosier tournament at Indianapolis.

“I had a bad shooting night in the Indiana Classic and against Louisville,” Alford said. “I think my confidence went down a little.

“My teammates and coaches have been great. They told me to just keep shooting when I have the shot.”

The victory sent Indiana into tonight’s championship game against Illinois State.

Alford’s accuracy for three-pointers climbed to 54.4% compared with just 41.4% from inside the three-point line.

“Dad and I went up Christmas morning to the New Castle (Ind.) gym and spent about 15 minutes just shooting around, me and him,” he said. “It’s always good to go back where you grew up, and I think that just gave me confidence.

“He told me, ‘You’re a shooter. Just shoot it.’ I think that had a lot to do with it.”

Alford had four three-pointers in each half, including three straight during a 15-4 spurt that put the game out of reach early in the second half. Indiana, which led, 38-25, at halftime, stretched its lead to 32 points late in the game.

Daryl Thomas added 17 points for Indiana (8-1). Alan Wiggins scored 20 for Princeton (4-4).

Illinois State 60, Fresno State 44--Derrick Sanders had 16 points and 7 rebounds to carry the Redbirds past the Bulldogs in the second game at Indianapolis.

The Bulldogs (4-5) took a 25-24 lead at the outset of the second half, but Illinois State (5-3) gained control by holding Fresno without a basket for 4 1/2 minutes.

Oklahoma 106, Creighton 89--Harvey Grant scored 29 points and Darryl Kennedy added 25 as the sixth-ranked Sooners rolled past the Bluejays and into the championship game of the All-College Tournament at Oklahoma City.

The Sooners (7-1) took a 58-47 halftime lead as Kennedy scored 15 points and teammate Dave Sieger hit 4 of 6 shots from three-point range.

Grant, a 6-9 junior, took over in the second half, scoring 22 points on short-range shots and free throws.

Gary Swain scored 34 points for Creighton (5-4). Rod Mason added 22.

TCU 92, Oklahoma State 61--Carven Holcombe scored 25 points to lead the Horned Frogs past the Cowboys in the second game at Oklahoma City and into the title game against Oklahoma.

Holcombe scored 16 of his 25 points as TCU (8-3) made 70% of its shots in the first half and built a 43-20 lead. Carl Lott added 16 points for the Horned Frogs.

William Woods scored 12 points for Oklahoma State (3-6).

Bradley 110, Northeastern 105--Hersey Hawkins scored 35 points and Greg Jones added 21 as the Braves turned back the Huskies in a tournament at Philadelphia.

The Braves (4-4) had a 65-48 lead with 13 minutes left, but Northeastern (5-4) rallied and pulled within 106-102 with 40 seconds left. Hawkins made two free throws with six seconds left to seal the victory.

Derrick Lewis had 26 points and John Williams 22 for Northeastern. Reggie Lewis, who averages 25 points a game, had the flu and scored 10 points in 25 minutes.

St. Joseph’s 77, La Salle 70--James Flint scored 16 points, including six straight free throws in the final minute, as the Hawks beat the Explorers in the other game at Philadelphia.

Flint also had 10 assists to put St. Joseph’s (3-2) in today’s championship game against Bradley.

LaSalle (5-4) had a 68-62 lead with 2:52 left, but the Hawks rallied and took the lead for good, 71-70, on a three-point shot by Rick Tarr with 1:06 left.

Tim Legler scored 20 points for the Explorers.

Oregon 78, SW Louisiana 73--David Girley made six free throws in the final 29 seconds, and the Ducks escaped with a victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns in the Far West tournament at Portland, Ore.

Girley also hit two three-point field shots and scored 19 points to pick up the slack when Oregon (4-4) lost leading scorer Anthony Taylor with a head injury late in the first half. Taylor scored six points. Rick Osborn added 15 and Keith Balderston had 14 for the Ducks.

Andre Crenshaw scored 21 points for Southwest Louisiana (4-4), Randal Smith added 19 and Marvin Lancaster had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Southwestern Louisiana rallied in the closing minutes, cutting a 12-point deficit to 70-65 with just under a minute to play.

Gurley hit both ends of three one-and-one situations, but outside shots by Brian Jolivett and Gregg Falcon sliced Oregon’s lead to 76-73.

Jesse Nash broke loose for a layup in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Drake 62, Miami (Ohio) 44--Mike Morgan returned to the starting lineup and had 19 points and and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs past the Redskins in the Lobo Invitational at Albuquerque, N.M.

Morgan, benched for three games because of poor play, scored 12 points as Drake (6-5) built a 30-20 halftime lead.

Miami (4-4) played without point guard Glenn Miller, who had a string of 50 consecutive starts snapped when he came down with the flu.

New Mexico 84, Brown 68--Kelvin Scarborough scored 34 points, and the Lobos routed the Bruins in the other game at Albuquerque.

The Lobos (9-2) will play Drake tonight in the final.

Scarborough scored 20 points in the first half as New Mexico broke away to a 47-35 lead.

He made 12 of 19 shots in the game and 10 of 11 free throws.

Patrick Lynch scored 15 points for Brown (4-3).

USF 81, CS Stanislaus State 68--Sophomore Mark McCathrion and Patrick Clardy each scored 16 points as the Dons beat the Warriors at San Francisco.

The Dons (8-2) had a 40-29 halftime lead, but the Warriors (6-3) cut the lead to 60-59 with 5:07 remaining. USF went on a 18-3 run to put the game out of reach.